“Hungary welcomes the fact that the German recommendations for handling the European refugee crisis include two that the Hungarian Government also regards as our number one priorities”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI. Mr. Szijjártó was reacting to a four-point proposal by Sigmar Gabriel, which the German Vice Chancellor presented in the interests of effectively handling migration pressure on the European Union.

“Hungary supports the German recommendation that the EU should provide financial assistance to Turkey and other countries bordering Syria to help them care for people fleeing the war zone, thus enabling refugees to remain as close as home to possible until the conflict comes to an end”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Hungarian Government also agrees with the fact that achieving a ceasefire in Syria is an essential part of any solution to the refugee crisis, and would be an important element for stability in the region neighbouring Europe. According to Mr. Szijjártó, ending the civil war in the near eastern country requires the biggest players in global politics to come to a compromise, or as the Minister explained, no long-term ceasefire can come into existence without both U.S. and Russian involvement in peace negotiations.

However, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs also stressed that Hungary continues to disagree with the German standpoint according to which asylum seeker registration centres, or so-called hot spots, should be established within the territory of Hungary. As the Minister explained, Hungary is not a front country in view of the fact that every illegal immigrant who arrives in Hungary via the Western Balkan route has already passed through another member state of the European Union, namely Greece.

Mr. Szijjártó stressed that the Hungarian Government rejects the approach according to which Greece’s incompetence should be solved by forcing Hungary to shoulder Greece’s obligations. According to the Dublin Agreement, refugees must be registered by the first EU member state they enter, but Athens is not performing its duty in this respect, the Minister highlighted.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, to solve this problem Brussels should establish a joint force that is capable of protecting Greece’s borders, and accordingly the external borders of the European Union. This is the most effective reply to the immigration crisis and “Hungary is ready to make a massive contribution in this respect”, he added.

According to Sigmar Gabriel’s four-point proposal, EU member states should provide 1.5bn euros in funding to Turkey and other countries bordering Syria, and a similar level of financial assistance is required from the United States and Arab countries. In addition, the German Vice Chancellor also thinks it is necessary to establish refugee registration hot-spots in three countries, Italy, Greece and Hungary, from where refugees can be distributed following registration. Mr. Sigmar believe that diplomatic efforts must be made to achieve a ceasefire in Syria and that “the key to a solution” exists not only in Moscow and Washington, but also in Teheran.

In addition, Sigmar Gabriel also feels it is important that the German Federal Government should provide more financial assistance to lower levels of Germany’s administration to help handle the refugee crisis.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)